Dhaka, Dec 9 – The Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of police pressed charges against 14 activists of the banned militant outfit “Neo JMB” in a case filed in connection to the hotel blast in the capital’s Panthapath area on Aug 15, 2017. Inspector of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, Raju Ahmed, also investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court yesterday.
The 14 charge-sheeted accused are Akram Hossain Khan Niloy, the mastermind of the attack, Tanveer Yasin Kabir, Abu Turab Khan, Sadia Hosna Lucky, Humaira Zakir Nabila, Tazreen Khanam Shubh, Abdullah alias Aychan Kabiraz, Abul Kashem Fakir, Lulu Sardar alias Shahid Mistul Hasan Mumon, Taijul Islam Choton, Najul, Kamrul Islam Shakil, and Tarique Md Adnan.
Saiful, 21, from Khulna’s Dumuria, blew himself up when a team of CTTC conducted ‘Operation August Bite’ at Hotel Olio International in Panthapath, a couple of hundred feet away from Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi.
Among the 14 militant accused in the charge sheet, 10 of them have already delivered confessional statements in court. Militant Saiful Islam has not been named among the accused as he died when he detonated the bomb. Suspect Taijul Islam Choton, a minor, will be tried in a juvenile court.
Sources said Niloy, Nabila, Abu Turab, and Lulu Sarder are the only accused who are yet to give confessional statements. Nabila, Abu Turab, Sadia, Tajrin, and Tanvir are currently on bail. All of the accused were active members of New JMB.
Among the accused, four members–Abu Taoba, 56, his wife Sadia Hosna Ali, 46, son Akram Hosain Niloy, 24, and daughter Tazrin Khanam Shuvo, 29—belong to the same family.
The incident took place just three hours after President Md Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and other high-ups of the government had paid their respects to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the museum, in Dhanmondi, on National Mourning Day.
Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court General Recording Officer Sub-Inspector (SI) Shafayatul Islam said: “The Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Unit Inspector Raju Ahmed, also investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet before the court.”
The case has already been sent to Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal for hearing, he added.
According to investigating officers, Niloy, who was the then-chief Neo JMB, planned the attack and instructed Saiful to take a position at the hotel. The militants used ‘Dark Web and Telegram channel’ to communicate among themselves, they said.
A day before the CTTC raid, the outfit’s explosive expert suspect Mamun supplied explosives to Saiful at the capital’s Abdullahpur area. Later, Saiful checked in to the hotel with a suicide vest to carry out an attack on the crowd who joined Aug 15 memorial. Tanvir, Abu Turab, Sadia, Humayira, and Tazreen were financiers of the attack. – Staff Reporter
